In I Stand Here Ironing, Tillie Olsen uses the characters throughout to portray the feminine aspects of being a single mother along with being the daughter of a single mother.
The narrator is a woman who is trying her best to defeat the odds and provide for her daughter,
Emily. At the same time, Emily faces many of her own problems concerning femininity and its societal standards and burdens.
In the story's beginning, Olsen shows how the narrator struggles with being a single, hard-working mother in this time period. Seeing the narrator from this perspective shows how being a female, specifically a single mother, can be a load. It is uncommon to see a woman working to provide for her family, as the societal norm is for them to be a stay-at-home
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While it is hard, Olsen still shows that in the end, the narrator and Emily can share a bond like no other through the “abnormal” struggles that they faced.
Dominguez 2
Not only does Olsen use the narrator to portray femininity, but she also uses Emily to show some of the struggles that come with being the daughter of a single mother. It has grown more common for the eldest daughter to act like a mother to her siblings and help care for them.
This is expressed by Olsen when the narrator says “There was not time for her (Emily). She had to help be a mother, and housekeeper, and shopper.” Taking on a responsibility like that at such a young age can affect the person in many ways. The male characters in this story are dismissed and hardly talked about. Emily’s brother, Ronnie, is the only one that is given slightly more attention. Ronnie is dependent on Emily for his comfort and care. This goes to show how the male characters are helpless, and the females play an important role in their lifes. While the male characters serve no purpose and are practically useless, the females are the ones who carry a burden of having someone to rely on them constantly.
While Emily struggles with the load of having to be a mother figure to her siblings,